Conflicts of Interest in Public Health and Nutrition: A Content Analysis of aGhanaian Newspaper and Policy Documents by Kwame Adjei1,4*, Kingsley K. A Pereko2, Lisa Kearnsi3, John Ganle4, Richmond Aryeetey4, Amos Laar
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Conflicts of interest as defined by the United States National Academy of Medicine are “circumstances that create a risk that professional judgments or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest”. We aimed to determine the frequency of reportage of COI in nutrition and public health articles published in a top Ghanaian newspaper and two policy documents.
Methods: The study employed a content analysis research approach to review
stories, articles, features, news, among others from the top Ghanaian public and
private newspapers over a one-year period. The study selected and reviewed
hardcopies of print newspaper articles from the most frequently read state-funded
paper published from January to December 2019. This review was guided by the
data driven policy analysis framework and the key words used in the search
Included: conflict of interest, public health, nutrition, Ghana, preventive health,
research, disclosure. The study also identified elements of COI reported in the
National Nutrition Policy (NNP) and the Ghana Public Health Act (GPHA) policy
documents. We also analyzed public health and nutrition research articles and
documents referenced in the NNP. The study employed the constructed week
sampling method for selecting articles. Data for the newspaper review was
extracted with the aid of a coding sheet which included date of publication, total
number of stories, total number of public health and nutrition stories. Within that,
we also looked at what constituted COI in the NNP and GHPA policy documents.
Discussion: Findings from this showed that there are a low coverage and reportage
of health topics as well as COIs in the Daily Graphic. The majority of referenced
materials used in the development of the NNP and GPHA document had undisclosed
COI.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
References
1. USNAM. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Conflict of Interest in Medical Research,
Education, and Practice. Principles for Identifying and Assessing Conflicts of Interest. Available at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22937/. National Academies Press. Education aPLB,
Field MJ, editors, editor2009.
2. Curzer HJ, Santillanes G. Managing conflict of interest in research: Some suggestions for
investigators. Accountability in research. 2012;19(3):143-55.
3. Cohen JJ. Trust us to make a difference: Ensuring public confidence in the integrity of clinical
research. Academic Medicine. 2001;76(2):209-14.
4. Radun I. Nonfinancial conflict of interest in peer-review: Some notes for discussion.
Accountability in Research. 2023;30(6):331-42.
5. Medicine IO. Conflict of interest in medical research, education and practice. The National
Academies Press Washington; 2009.
6. Page K. The four principles: Can they be measured and do they predict ethical decision
making? BMC medical ethics. 2012;13(1):10.
7. Lucas M. Conflicts of interest in nutritional sciences: The forgotten bias in meta-analysis. World
journal of methodology. 2015;5(4):175.
8. Grinnell F. The interrelationship between research integrity, conflict of interest, and the
research environment. Journal of microbiology & biology education. 2014;15(2):162.
9. Bes-Rastrollo M, Schulze MB, Ruiz-Canela M, Martinez-Gonzalez MA. Financial conflicts of
interest and reporting bias regarding the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and
weight gain: a systematic review of systematic reviews. PLoS medicine. 2013;10(12).
10. Gupta A, Holla R, Suri S. Conflict of interest in public health: should there be a law to prevent
it. Indian J Med Ethics. 2015;12(3):172-7.
11. Komesaroff P, Kerridge I, Lipworth W. Don't show me the money: the dangers of non-financial
conflicts. 2012.
12. Laar AK, Redman BK, Ferguson K, Caplan A. Institutional approaches to research integrity in
Ghana. Science and Engineering Ethics. 2020;26(6):3037-52.
13. Agyepong I. O/IR in Health & Disease Control Programs: Experiences & Lessons from Ghana
(1989-2008). Available at https://islidedocs.com/philosophy-of-money.html?utm_source=oir-in-health-amp-disease-control-programs-experiences-amp-lessons-from-ghana-1989-
2008. 2008.
14. Kikuchi K AE, Okawa S, and Ghana EMBRACE Implementation Research Team; . Ensure
Mothers and Babies Regular Access to Care (EMBRACE) program: study protocol for a cluster
randomized controlled trial. Trials. PMC. 2015; 16:22.
15. RDD. National Health Research Agenda developed by Research and Development Division,
Ghana Health Service. Available at
https://www.ghanahealthservice.org/downloads/National_Health_Research_Agenda_2015-
2019.pdf. 2015.
16. KHRC. Kintampo Health Research Centre. Available at http://www.kintampo-hrc.org/. 2019.
17. JICA. Maternal and Child Health Handbook. Available at
https://www.jica.go.jp/english/publications/j-world/1901_02.html. 2019.
18. GHS. Family Health Division, Ghana Health Service. Annual year report. Available at
http://www.ghanahealthservice.org/division-scat.php?ghs&ghsscid=30&ghsdid=2. 2016.
19. RDD. Research and Development Division. Available at
http://www.ghanahealthservice.org/division-scat.php?ghs&ghsscid=68&ghsdid=11. Accessed
on 24/10/19. 2019.
20. Blanca E-F, Jayne, W., and Gyapong, M. Assessing the impact of health research on health
policies: a study of the Dodowa Health Research Centre, Ghana. BMC Health Service Research.
2017.
21. GHS. National Nutrition Policy. Available at
https://www.unicef.org/ghana/media/1311/file/UN712528.pdf. 2016.
22. MOH. Ghana Public Health Act. Available at https://www.moh.gov.gh/wpcontent/uploads/2016/02/Public-Health-Act-851.pdf. 2009.
23. Laar AK. Family planning, abortion, and HIV in Ghanaian print media: a 15-month content
analysis of a national Ghanaian newspaper. African journal of reproductive health. 2010;14(4).
24. Hsieh H-F, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative health
research. 2005;15(9):1277-88.
25. Riffe D, Lacy S, Fico F, Watson B. Analyzing media messages: Using quantitative content
analysis in research: Routledge; 2019.
26. Jones J, Lee, D. and Bayhi, L. The Data-Driven Policy Analysis Framework as a Template for
Healthcare Policy Analysis.
. Ann Nurs Res Pract 2016; 1(1): 1005. 2016.
27. Hester JB, Dougall E. The efficiency of constructed week sampling for content analysis of
online news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 2007;84(4):811-24.
28. GNA. Princess of Jordan pays vist to Ghana. Daily Graphic Newspaper. Published 02/02/19.
2019.
29. GNA. Breast Cancer Initiative. Daily Graphic Newspaper. Published on 14/08/19. 2019.
30. GNA. Advocacy for Pharmacies to Treat Malaria. Daily Graphic Newspaper. Published
17/08/19. 2019.
31. GNA. Ghana Eximbank: One District, One Factory Initiative. Daily Graphic Newspaper.
Published 20/02/2019. 2019.
32. GNA. The Use of Spiritual Water to Cure HIV/AIDS. Daily Graphic Newspaper. Published
24/06/19. 2019.
33. GNA. Member of Parliament gives out Ambulance at Sene West. Daily Graphic Newspaper.
Published 26/03/19. 2019.
34. OECD. Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Sector: A toolkit. Available at
https://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/49107986.pdf. Accessed 12/03/24 2005 [
35. COPE. Undisclosed Conflict of Interest in a Published Article. Available at
https://publicationethics.org/node/34591. Accessed 11/03/24 2019 [
36. Kehinde K. Development news in Nigerian newspapers: a content analysis on The Punch and
The New Nigerian Newspapers University of Ghana. 2008.
37. BMJ. WHO Expert had conflict of interest, Danish newspaper. Available at
https://www.bmj.com/bmj/section-pdf/186449?path=/bmj/340/7738/News.full.pdf. Accessed
01/09/2022. 2010.
38. Cassels A, Hughes MA, Cole C, Mintzes B, Lexchin J, McCormack JP. Drugs in the news: an
analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage of new prescription drugs. Cmaj. 2003;168(9):1133-7.
39. Kearns L, Caplan A. “A Little ELF, please?” The Electronic Long-Form COI Disclosure
Statement (ELFCOI). Taylor & Francis; 2018.